The present invention generally relates to packaging, and more particularly, a system and method of closed carton inspection.
A closed carton may be filled with packaging material that once packaged and sealed, is unavailable for visual inspection. For example, blister packs and a leaflet may be packaged for containers holding pharmaceutical products. It may be important to ensure all the contents are placed in the carton prior to final packaging. One known method for detecting missing contents of a closed carton is to weigh the carton on a weighing machine which method may not be able to detect missing items at full production speeds where cartons may be continuously moved on a conveyor belt mainly in part due to the very small weight difference a leaflet has in comparison to the overall weight differential of the product versus the leaflet . Another known method for detecting missing contents of a closed carton is by detecting eddy currents at the fill-height of metal parts which method may not be able to detect missing non-metallic items, such as leaflets.
As can be seen, there is a need for a system and method that can inspect cartons without visual inspection.